10 GENIUS Time Travel Levels In Video Games

As the title might suggest, Twelve Minutes is a short interactive experience that takes place entirely inside a single level consisting of a set of rooms where, in 12 minutes, a bloody and unmitigable disaster will occur.

Well, except things aren’t really so doomed because every time the 12 minutes pass, the game loops back to the beginning of the level and lets the player alter the course of the events preceding the disaster so that they can prevent it.

For this reason, although the game has only one level that lasts less than a quarter minute, in order to finish it, you need at least six to eight hours during which you collect clues, experiment with different outcomes, and slowly unravel a disturbing secret that your character’s family has been hiding for years.

The game is genius at executing the time loop trope, as it doesn’t just use it for puzzles and gameplay. The loop can also impact the narrative and the tone of the game, making everything feel more disturbing the more you keep resetting the timeline.

Twelve Minutes is worth checking out, although it’s important to keep in mind that its title is highly misleading.